West Virginia University researchers have received recognition from the federal government for their efforts to keep our nation’s information systems safe from cyber terrorism and other threats in this digital age.
Thanks to the efforts of faculty and student researchers, WVU has been named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research, a designation made jointly by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
“We appreciate this recognition of our work,” said Brian Woerner, chair of the WVU Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, “but we are equally excited about the opportunities for partnerships and collaboration that this provides to our faculty and students.”
The goal of the Center of Academic Excellence programs is to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting research in information assurance and to produce a growing number of professionals with information assurance expertise, said Woerner. The designation is valid for five academic years, after which the school must reapply.
Students attending designated schools are eligible for scholarships and grants through the Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program and the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program. The new designation also will allow WVU faculty to compete for specialized research projects addressing critical security needs of our information infrastructure.
Woerner will attend a ceremony recognizing WVU’s achievement on June 8 in Washington D.C., along with Roy Nutter, another faculty member in the department.
The Lane Department offers undergraduate degrees in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering and biometric systems; graduate degrees in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering and electrical engineering; and graduate certificates in software engineering, computer forensics, and biometrics and information assurance.
In addition to information assurance, faculty and students in the department conduct research in a wide range of areas, including biometric systems, computer forensics, computer security, signal processing and pattern recognition, and machine learning.
The department is also home to the Center for Identification Technology Research, a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center which focuses on biometric identification and identity management.
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sc/5/24/2010
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